What is a compensation survey and how are they used?

Many organizations (for profit and not-for-profit alike) use comparable data from published and private compensation survey sources to help determine the fair market value of positions within their industry, geographic area and size. It is common practice for organizations to participate in compensation surveys on a regular basis by reporting data for matching positions within their own organization. A third party is used to compile the data and report it in a way so that no one organization's data may be identified.

why should our church participate in this compensation survey?

The MegaChurch Compensation Survey was developed to meet the unique needs of large and growing churches in the United States. This survey includes positions specific to MegaChurches that are not available in other church or not-for-profit compensation surveys. Additionally, the data will be scoped by church size showing clear differentiation of pay. The reduced cost for participants is much lower than typical compensation surveys. And, all data will be kept strictly confidential.

Sufficient, consistent participation is also necessary to report relevant data for the Church. Corporations who participate in similar compensation surveys do so consistently in the name of "good corporate citizenship".

The availability of data reported for any given position or scope is dependent upon the number of churches participating in the survey. Please encourage comparable size churches in your region and denomination to participate. This will increase sample sizes and availability of data relevant to your church.

Receive $100 off any order when you refer a NEW participant in the MegaChurch Compensation Survey.

How is a MegaChurch defined?

We have defined a MegaChurch as a large church with weekly attendance of 2,000 or more.

How is the survey data reported?

Where sufficient sample sizes exist, the data is reported overall by position and grouped in the following categories:

Denomination (Including Non-Denominational)

Geographic location

Annual operation budget

Number of employees

Number in attendance

how is privacy ensured?

It is our policy to comply with all U.S. Department of Justice Safe Harbor Guidelines as it relates to compensation data. All data will be kept strictly confidential. We will only report data in aggregate where a minimum of 5 organizations are available. Individual church data will not be reported. Additionally, we do not collect information specific to an employee's identity (i.e. name, social security number) and participants have the option to request their church name be excluded from the survey participant list.

why is there a cost for survey participants to purchase the report?

The MegaChurch Compensation Survey has been referred to as the most comprehensive church compensation report by Human Resource Directors as some of the countries largest churches. The quality and detail of the report has been compared to those used by corporations costing thousands of dollars.

Church Compensation Services specializes in providing relevant compensation data and information to the Church for a fraction of what other human resource consulting firms charge. Because it's all we do, we maintain current compensation knowledge and best practices which are reflected in our data collection, quality review and reporting.